I made these baguettes using my trusted 36 hour sourdough recipe, twice - once with natural cocoa powder (on the left), once with special dark dutch processed cocoa powder (on the right). The natural ones were very hole-y but a bit flat; the dutch processed ones were rounder, with better shape, but the crumb is just so ever slightly less open. This once again proves the theory that natural cocoa powder is more acidic, which makes a more extensible bubbly dough.

You might notice that there isn't any sugar in the formula, that's because cocoa breads don't have to be sweet, can you say chicken mole? The slight bitterness of cocoa went perfectly with mole sauce.

Of course it CAN be sweet if that's the way you want to swing it. Here's a decadent pizza made with this dough, topping: brie cheese, LOTS of bittersweet dark chocolate pieces, and pistachio nuts. TO DIE FOR. (Add chocolate pieces for the last minute or two of baking, otherwise they burn.)

I normally don't like too much (or any) dry flour on my bread crust, but for these super dark baguettes I had to add a thin layer, just to show off the cuts.

Not your everyday baguette, but perfect if you want a dessert pizza/bread (add more chocolate), or something to go with mole dishes.

Comments

Ok, I will admit it, I laughed quite a bit when I was reading through this post. I know you for your wonderful exploits at high hydrations and superb baguette skills but this has gone to far TxFarmer! They are chocolate baguette masterpieces that shouldn't be shown unless you are planning on sharing them! Grrrr.....

As I started to read your post, I was thinking that a non-sweet chocolate bread might go nicely with mole sauce. And there it was, in print and photos! Even if I didn't have an original idea, it still sounds like a good one! Beautiful breads.

I do the same shaping steps as what I learned from books, internet, and SFBI. Very "normal" traditional method. For holey crumb, it's important to take the "iron hand, velvet glove" approach, but it's more important to have proper fermentation and dough strength.

Tx Farmer, I noticed in your post with the original 36hr Sourdough recipe, you mentioned that you usually use the KA AP flour. I had intended to use the KA Artisan Select, but as you clearly know what you're up to, I thought I would ask why you prefer the AP? It's my intention to use the dutched cocoa variation here. Thanks, your baugettes are lovely!

Oh wait, one more question...are you including the cocoa powder in your autolyse or adding it at the 2nd hydration? I know that cocoa will suck up a lot more water than flour, but I'm uncertain about whether that's better handled with a longer or shorter ferment.

I had the choice between AP and Bread Flour, AP was closer to the gluten level I wanted. Artisan Select is not something I can readily get from store, and I bake these every week, that's why it wasn't an option. However, you can certainly try it! Coca was added along with flour in autolyse.

Even though it is a year old, these baggies are just spectacular! Being Mad Mole Mavericks around here we would be tempted to use a Mexican chocolate commonly used in mole. It is usually an inexpensive one that has spices, nuts, sugar and seeds like the one Nestle makes called Abuelita. This is definitely going on the bake list possibly in conjunction with Ian's Mocha bread.

Follow The Fresh Loaf on:

All original site content copyright 2016 The Fresh Loaf unless stated otherwise. Content posted by community members is their own. The Fresh Loaf is not responsible for community member content. If you see anything inappropriate on the site or have any questions, contact me at floydm at thefreshloaf dot com. This site is powered by Drupal and Mollom.